The Answer To Everything

Problems, problems, everywhere. We need power to solve these problems. And alternatives to burning the icky black stuff we find under deserts always have one problem: they cost more, and/or they don't store as well. But a company in Texas, EEStor, is working on a replacement for chemical batteries that make it cheaper and faster to supply power to pretty much anything. High capacity capacitors have the potential to replace lead-acid and other exotic batteries and make electricity storage finally triumph over very old dinosaur goo:

Forget hybrids and hydrogen-powered vehicles. EEStor, a stealth company in Cedar Park, Texas, is working on an "energy storage" device that could finally give the internal combustion engine a run for its money -- and begin saving us from our oil addiction. "To call it a battery discredits it," says Ian Clifford, the CEO of Toronto-based electric car company Feel Good Cars, which plans to incorporate EEStor's technology in vehicles by 2008.
EEStor's device is not technically a battery because no chemicals are involved. In fact, it contains no hazardous materials whatsoever. Yet it acts like a battery in that it stores electricity. If it works as it's supposed to, it will charge up in five minutes and provide enough energy to drive 500 miles on about $9 worth of electricity. At today's gas prices, covering that distance can cost $60 or more; the EEStor device would power a car for the equivalent of about 45 cents a gallon.

The article focuses on the automobile application, because that's where the greatest technological leap can return the biggest gain. But anything that has a battery in it could use a fast charging, safe, inexpensive power supply, dontcha think? Yeah, me too. Faster, please!